Boat construction



July 7, Q HUSSMAN 2,046,558

BOAT CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Aug. 22, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E Q5 11I 4 m 50 I ATTOR Y Patented July 7, 1936 PATENT OFFICE.

BOAT GQNSTRUCTION Carl Hussman, Chicago, 111,, assignor to United StatesGypsum Company, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Illinois ApplicationAugust 22, 19.31, Serial No. 558,683 Renewed February 17, 1934 tions, inwhich the motors for propelling theboat are resiliently supported inorder to reduce the 5 vibration of the boat when the motors areoperating.

It has been proposed to utilize resilient spring clips for supportingthe motor of the boat and also for taking the thrust of thepropeller'shaft so as to reduce the vibration of the boat due. tooperation of the motor. The present invention deals with locking downthe motor rigidly as might .be desirable during rough weather, and alsomeans for throwing a load onthe main motor supporting springs inaddition to the weight of the motor itself.

An object of the present invention is to provide animprovedsupportingbaseqfor the motors of a boat and to provide means for limiting thevibration or completely stopping the action of the. suppportingspringclips, asm ht be necessary during rough weather.

v.Another object of-the inventionv is ,to connect the twin resilientlysupported-motorsyofia. boat to prevent undue lateralandindependentmovemem thereof. M

A further object of the inventionisto: provide a motor supportingresilient base suitablefor :permitting vibration of the motors axiallyof the crankshaftso as to make the use. of :aresiliently held thrustbearing unnecessary; also to improve boat constructionsin other respectshereinafter specified and'claimed.

Reference is to be had --to the accompanying drawings forming apart of'this specification, in which Fig. 1 is a plan, diagrammatic view of theboat showing portions of a power driving mechanism,

Fig. -2 is a sectional elevation on.1ine 2.-.2 showing a tie bar forconnecting together-a pair of boat motors,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a resilientbase for supporting one of theboatmotors or engines,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation of theengine base taken on line 44of'Figure 3,

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of the motor base taken on line 5-5 ofFigure "3,

,Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view of a portion of the engine base takenon line'6 6 ofFigure 5, Figs. 7 and 8 are sectional elevations of themotor base taken on lines l.1 audit-.8 respectively-of Fig. 4, and Fig.MS a sectional elevationofa.flexiblecou- Qpling on one of thepropellershafts.

In theboat hull H], a series of metal angle bars II are rigidly securedto the boat frame, preferably extending longitudinally of the boat toform a support for one or more motors or engines I2. As commonlyconstructed, two, of the engines, I2 are provided inspaced parallelrelation so as to operate a pair of propeller shafts I3 carryingpropellers M on their outer ends for causing the movement of the boat.Each of the propeller shafts I3 is provided with a pair of bearingbrackets l5 and I6 exterior of the boat hull, a stufling box I1, and arigid coupling l8.

Each of said shafts is also provided with a flexible coupling 19 whichcomprises a pair of annular flanges 20, secured by keys 2| and set bolts22 to the ends of the propeller shaft 13 in the case of one set ofannular flanges and. to the endof a co-axially extending engine shaft 24in the case of the other annular flange. An annular series of laminatedpins 25 connects the outer edges of the flanges 20' so as to permit alim.- ited amount of rotary relative movement between the annularflanges 20 when the motors are started and stopped so as to reducethevibration of the boat. Annular plates 26 are secured in recesses formedon each inner face of each flange 20 and said plates have inwardly.extending, semi-circular projections 21 for co-acting one with the otherto take the thrust of the propeller shaft I3. A connecting link 28passes through the annular plates 26, being provided with enlarged heads29 for preventing said plates 26 from separating. The inner ends ofshafts l3 and 24, contact with the large heads 29 of the connecting link28 so as to limit the axial move,

ment of said shafts. A spring wire 30 in ann n lar form engages in arecess in each of the laminated pins 25 and on each one of the annularflanges 20 so as to maintain said flexible pins 25 in position. By meansof the flexible couplings shown in Fig. 9, the vibration due to therevolution of the propellers is carried directly to the motor or engine[2 and these vibrations are prevented from being transmitted to theboat. hull H) by resilient engine bases to be more fully described.

Each of the angle bars I] has a horizontally extending leg or flange 32.A metallic bar 33 ex tends parallel to and above each of the angle legs32,..being spaced apart therefrom and, in effect, forming a mount forthe mechanism subject to vibration. Resilient spring clips havingcentral saddle members .34, integral loops 3.5, and outstanding legs 36,are positioned between the'an- .gle legs 32 and bars 33 or legs 32 inalternate arrangement best seen in Fig. 4. Blocks 3'! are secured byrivets 38 to the bars 33, so as to engage each of the saddle members 34.Stud bolts 39 are screwed into blocks 31a, and pass through bars 33 toconnect to the motor base. Other rivets 40 secure the clip ends 36 tothe legs 32 or bars33, as the casemay be. The spring clips thus arepositioned between and resiliently conmeet the bar 33 with the angle leg32 so as to prevent vibrations of the motor or engine being transmittedto the boat hull I0.

It has been found that the spring clips under the motors operate at thehighest efiiciency from a sound and vibration insulating standpoint,"

when they are loaded with a particular and rather limited range ofloading. In many instances, therefore, it is desirable to place anadditional load'upon the main supporting springs over and above thatoccasioned by the weight of the motor itself. For this purpose ofauxiliary loading, I utilize auxiliary spring clips 42 which are of thesame general nature as the main spring clips. Clips 42, however, havetheir outstanding flanges or legs 43 securedto the lower face of theangleleg 32. A stud bolt 44 is screwed into a block 449. and through thesaddle member of the clip 42, the leg 32, the bar 33 and through themotor base flange 45, the latter being secured to the bar 33 by means ofbolts 44 passing through bolt holes 46. The nut 4'1 on the upper end ofeach of the bolts 44 may be adjusted so that the tension of the springclips 42 throws any desired auxiliary load on the main spring clipssupporting the motor so as to bring the main spring clips up to thedesired loading and to their maximum efiiciency from a Vibrationinsulating standpoint.

In some cases, such for example as during rough weather, it is desirableto limit or entirely stop the vibration of the main spring clips forshort periods to prevent undue vibration of the motors due to thepitching and rolling of the boat. For this purpose, I provide wedgeblocks 48 which are secured to the lower face of the metal bar 33bymeans of screws 49. A wedge face 50 formed on the lower face of theblock 48,-co-op erates and engages with a wedge face 5| formed upon amovable wedge block 52. Each of the bolts 44, preferably passes throughan opening formed in the wedge block 48, and the wedge block 52 ispreferably provided with a slot 54 to receive the bolts 44 and permitlateral movement of said block relative to said bolt.. The wedge faces50' and 5i are preferably lined with lead or other soft material sothat, when said bases are slightly separated, vibration of the motorswill not produce unwonted noise.

In order to permit the lateral adjustment of the movable wedge block 52,a stud bolt 55 is screwed at one end into the block 52, and. theopposite end of said bolt 55 is provided with a threaded section 56 forreceiving a pair of lock nuts 51. The bolt 55 passes through anupstanding flange 58 formed on an angle bracket 59, said bracket havinga downwardly extending flange 6B secure-dby rivets Bl to the angle barH. The

flange 58 extends between the lock nuts 51 and rigidly secures the bolt58 and block 52 in any desired adjusted position. *A plate 62 alsoextends upwardly between the flange 60 and angle bar H, being providedwith a hole for-slidably receiving the inward end of bolt 55. The lower'face of wedge block 52 is preferably provided with a dovetailed grooveengaging with a dovetail tongue 63 formed on the upper face of the ofspringing angle leg 32 so as to accurately guide the sliding movement ofsaid block 52. a

In view of the fact that the motors high above the resilient bases, thetops of these motors tend to vibrate or move laterally of each l2 extendother when in operation. It is desirable, therefore, that when themotors are arranged in pairs,

cross bars 65 be used to connect the tops thereof.

Brackets 6B of suitable shape may be secured by bolts 61 to the exhaustmanifold of the motors,

and sleeves 68 are formed on said brackets for receiving the outer endsof the rods 55. A collar 65 and a nut H1 on each end of the rod 65,rigidly position the sleeves 68 on the rod 65. The rod 65 is preferablybent at an obtuse angle to form an arcuate section H which serves thepurpose of giving additional head room between the motors l2 and also topermit a limited amount or movement possible between the motors, thusimproving the vibration characteristicsof the'entire system. "One ormore, such as three as shown, of theser'ods'65 may beused if desired.Other forms of adjacent mechanical units than motors may also beconnected 'advanj tageously with this type connector. v 7

It will be seen that the spring clipsare of fiat metal and areof suchcharacter as tohave little or no resilience in the plane of the metal,

but owing to the integral loops 35, the saddle members 34 may moveslightly in the plane of.

the clip ends 36 in one direction only and also transversely ofsaid-plane. Thus', when the pro-- 7 I3 is vibrated axially'under thepropeller l4, this axial vibration peller shaft thrust of the istransmitted to the motor shaft 24'.which. is]

provided with a thrust bearing inside of. the motor. This propellervibration, therefore, vi-

bratesthe motor 'axially'of the propeller shaft is, and this vibrationis permitted due to the arrangement of the spring clips. These springclips also permit the'up and down vibration of the motor as it operates.Obviously, there are features of the invention which will find readyapplicability in other resilient mountingsthan for boat enginesspecifically I would state in conclusion that while the -lllustratedexamples constitute a practical embodiment'of my invention, I donot wishto limit myself precisely to these details, since manifestly, the samemay be considerably varied without departing from the spirit oftheinvention as defined intheappendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, -I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentzf 1;"In a boat construction, a pair of supportingmembers extending longitudinally of saidboat motor, base bars in spaced,parallel relationj'to said members, spring clips having'central saddlemembers and outstanding ends, said clipsbeing arranged in alternatemanner so as to-yieldingly connect said bars to said members, and amotorsupported by said bars. 1 1

2. In a boat construction,;an elongated sup:

porting member rigidly. connected to the frame the vibration ofv saidspring clips due to the operation of the boat motor.

31111 a. boatconstru'ctioma propeller shaft, a motor, for rotatingsaidpropeller shaft, a flexible coupling on said propeller shaftarranged to yieldingly connect said propeller shaft to'the shaft of saidmotor so that said propeller and motor shafts may have slightcircumferential relative movement, saidflexible coupling being arrangedto rigidly transmit the thrust of the propeller to the motor shaft, andspring means under said motor arranged to permit slight yieldingmovements of said motor axially of said propeller shaft under the actionof the propeller thrust.

4. In a boat construction, an elongated supporting member rigidlyconnected to the frame of said boat, a base member in spaced, parallelrelation to said support member, spring clips in alternate arrangementand yieldingly connecting said base member to said support member, amotor supported by said base member, auxiliary spring clips associatedwith said support member and arranged to increase the load on said mainspring clips in addition to the weight of the motor, and means foradjusting the tension of said auxiliary clips.

5. In a boat construction, a pair of longitudinally extending angle barssecured to the frame of said boat, a plurality of fiat spring clipsarranged along said angle bars, and a motor having a. propeller shaftand yieldingly supported by said spring clips to prevent vibration ofsaid motor being transferred to said boat frame, said clips beingconnected between said bars and motor edgewise toward the axis of saidshaft, so as to permit slight movement of said motor axially of saidshaft and vertically, but resist movement of said motor transversally ofsaid shaft.

6. In a boat construction, a propeller shaft, a motor for rotating same,fiat spring clips resiliently supporting said motor so as to prevent thetransfer of vibration from said motor to the frame of said boat, saidclips being arranged edgewise toward the axis of said shaft to permityielding movement of said motor axially of said propeller shaft underthe, influence of the thrust of the propeller, and so as to resistmovement of said motor transversally of said shaft.

7. In a resilient construction for vibration isolation, a pair ofrelatively rigid members, and yieldable spring means between andconnecting said members together and maintaining the same in resilientspaced relation, said spring means comprising a plurality of individualelements each having spaced attachment portions, one of said attachmentportions being laterally outstandings relative to the other, said springelements being attached to said members in alternate arrangement.

8. In a resilient construction for vibration isolation, a pair ofrelatively rigid members, and yieldable spring means between andconnecting said members together and maintaining the same in resilientspaced relation, said spring means comprising a plurality of individualelements each having spaced attachment portions connected by resilientloops, one of said attachment portions being adapted for directconnection to one of said members and the other for indirect connectionto the opposite member by means of an intermediate rigid element, saidspring means being attached to said members with the direct connectionattachment portions in alternate arrangement.

CARL HUSSMAN.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,046,558. July 7, 1936,

CARL HUSSMAN.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent rquiring correction as follows: Page 1,second column, line 55, strike out the words "or legs 52"; page 2, firstcolumn, line 2, after the numeral "55" and before the comma insert orlegs 52; page 3, second column, line 17, claim 7, for "outstandings"read outstanding; and that the said Letters Patent should be read withthese corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of thecase in the Patent Office Signed and sealed this 22nd day of September,A. D. 1936.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

